We still have more than two months before the 2026 season begins, which means no debates about Tom Brady’s conflict of interest as the Las Vegas Raiders‘ minority owner and his FOX analyst for another 60 days. But Brady’s recent comments about his team’s disappointing 2025 season have brought the issue back into focus. Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, Brady admitted that the Raiders “underperformed in every area. And it’s everybody’s fault.”

What stood out, however, was that Brady also discussed the improvements he expects from the Raiders in 2026, saying, “Everybody needs to improve, and it starts with me.” That’s where the conflict-of-interest debate resurfaced, as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk criticized Brady’s dual responsibilities. After all, Brady’s role as the Raiders’ minority owner overlaps with his FOX gig.

“Tom, if it does start with you, what are you doing working for FOX? What are you doing, anything other than you know, the thing that the Norway fans are doing with the row, you did, if you’re doing anything other than sitting in the boat with the rest of the team pulling an oar, it really doesn’t start with you,” Florio said. “It’s hard for him to say it starts with me when he’s viewing this as a hobby, as something he just kind of barnstorms in from time to time, to deal with. And we know that he can’t do more than that.

“Because on most days the Raiders are playing, Tom’s working elsewhere. Tom’s in a stadium calling a game involving other two teams and also acquiring plenty of insight and information along the way that can be used to help the Raiders. And to the extent that starts with him, no, he didn’t do a very good job of it last year. That’s been the biggest counter to the whole concept of the conflict of interest that Brady clearly has. It doesn’t work.”

Tom Brady acquired the Raiders’ minority ownership in 2024, and since then, he has been an alleged conflict of interest. Brady says that the improvement in Vegas starts with him. But his FOX job meant he was available for only three Raiders games during the 2025 season: one preseason game and two Monday Night Football matchups.

And even when he was available for those games, his appearances were far from free of scrutiny. For starters, the 7x Super Bowl champ appeared to sit in the team’s coaching booth, wearing a headset for the preseason and first MNF game. As that went down, the debate sparked around the ethics of a broadcaster sitting in his team’s coaching booth.

It wouldn’t be unfair to argue that Brady can gather insights and information to help his team, but the former QB failed there as well. The Raiders finished the season 3-14, fired Chip Kelly midseason, fired head coach Pete Carroll, and almost parted ways with Maxx Crosby. And yet Tom Brady said,

“There’s nobody who did a good job. There’s not one player in the organization, there’s not anybody involved that did the job to the level that it needs to be done at, and everybody needs to improve.

“It starts with me, and it filters down to the rest of the players on the field, and they’ve got to go out there, and ultimately they’ve got to perform at a high level,” Brady said.

While what Brady says might be true, the Raiders need to improve ahead of the 2026 season. However, his statements about no one performing at a high level aren’t right either.

Before he was sidelined for the final two weeks, Maxx Crosby recorded 73 total tackles and 10 sacks in 15 games, whereas TE Brock Bowers led the team in rushing with 266 carries for 975 yards and 5 rushing touchdowns. Both players also earned a Pro Bowl nod for their efforts on the field. However, Brady’s opinion of the Las Vegas Raiders isn’t the same.

The minority owner’s criticism of the Raiders’ failure is obvious, but not entirely true. And as far as his role to improve his team is concerned, it’s still tough to figure out how he’s going to help the Raiders while spending most of his time in the broadcasting booth.